A Smart Choice
by GMGirl
Summary: There were many things Dash Baxter would boast about, but smart was never one of them. Still, he thought asking out a certain freshmen girl was a brilliant move on his part. A story of Dash and Dani.


Dash Baxter was strong, tough, a damn fast runner, charming and a million other great things that he'd boast about. He knew that. However, he also knew that when it came to being smart, he was at the twenty yard line at the wrong end of the field. There was one thing he thought he was smart in doing though.

And that had been asking out a certain freshmen to the homecoming dance last year. Well, at the time he hadn't realized what he was doing. He'd lost a bet about how many hot peppers he could eat and he hadn't quite made it, so he had to ask out _a_ freshmen. Still, he had to admit, he made the right choice. Instead of going for one of the 'younger' popular kids, he decided to go with a complete unknown in almost all social circles, having a record for just barely making it for class, being in no clubs, and apparently always disappeared at lunch.

The only reason he knew about her was because she was in his gym class. She was kind of hard to miss there, actually.

He even remembered how cheeky she'd been when he asked her out. Like she really had no idea just how big of a deal it was. "Me? Well, all right, but you're buying my ticket and dinner before hand."

Not that he wouldn't have done that anyway. Mocking girl geeks was one thing, but not being a gentleman for his date was the fastest way to get lecture upon lecture from his mother. To have the girl bargain for it though, like she was haggling and not be stunned by the fact she was going on a date with THE Dash Baxter was cute. It helped it wasn't in the way that girls like Paulina did either. He was pretty sure he could have taken her to the Nasty Burge and she would have been happy. Paulina would have demanded a five star restaurant and probably a limo.

The surprised look when he did that anyway was cute. At least from what he can remember through his shock at finding out why the address she gave him had been so familiar.

"What, is it your first time seeing it up close?" She had asked, climbing into the limo, an excited smile on her face. "Wow, I didn't expect something like this. I haven't been in a limo in years."

Dash blinked and looked into the car. "You live with Fenturd?!"

She looked up, blinking owlishly. "It's pronounced Fenton," she said simply. "And yes. I'm his cousin. I'm living with his family for the time being."

Cousin. She was related to Fenton.

"Dash? The driver's staring," she said, like she didn't notice the internal debate in his mind. A freshmen AND related to Fenton.

Then again…so was Jazz.

He had gotten into the limo and pushed the issue aside. Only to never address it again after watching her throughout the evening, her eyes almost sparkling and the joyful smiles on her face after every turn.

On the drive home, she said she'd have been happy with something a lot simpler, but she was glad to see she had no reason to regret saying yes, despite all the doomsaying Fenton had given her.

At least he could say dating her was also driving Fenton insane on top of her being hot when he decided to ask her out again.

From there, he kept taking her out and never once did she complain. Be it a date to the Nasty Burger or a nice dinner, a walk through the park or a trip to the amusement park, she never demanded more. She never complained about lack of attention when he couldn't spend time with her for a week or two for sports. She didn't call every day and especially not every other hour.

She'd dress casually more often than not, but there were times she got into stints of dressing hot and she could even give Paulina a run for her money on her really good days. Those days usually came after some catty remark from the popular girls on how it was 'so sad' Dash had to date such a frumpy dresser. She'd do it for a day or two, turning heads throughout school, and then she'd be back in her usual style. She did it just enough to prove a point and never longer.

And she wasn't the kind of girl to make him feel dumb either. Then again, that was partly because, while witty, she wasn't the smartest person either.

"This is your midterm?" She asked him at his locker, picking up the paper after it fell from his book.

He had winced. "Yeah. My parents are going to kill me."

He wasn't sure how she timed it, but just as the lecture began, she came knocking with a pile of books in her arms, saying that she felt it was the duty of the boyfriend and the girlfriend to help each other get better grades and had walked in and dragged him upstairs before his parents got in a word edge wise.

The fact she actually meant for them to study had been a surprise until she showed him her midterm and it wasn't much better. (Except for Biology, oddly enough, which was an A plus.) It helped she had such a passion for learning that she'd look for ways to do it that didn't involved boring textbooks.

When he got a solid A- on his next Chemistry test, his parents said they approved of her, strange first meeting aside.

She kept in shape, even working out with him on occasion, not that he was surprised. It was her superb performance in their gym class that made him notice her that first time. And as much as he liked nice smelling girls, it was nice to meet a girl who wasn't afraid to actually sweat. And not even because she half assed something. While he was stronger, he'd seen some of his team who couldn't bench press as much as her and she had the same type of satisfaction as he did after a good workout. So he didn't mind the sweat. Besides, he liked the scent of her bodywash after she finished her shower.

She was perhaps the least finicky eater he's ever seen in a girl. Hell, she packed away more calories than he did, though he appreciated her attempts to cut back at the more expensive restaurants. How she burned it all, he didn't know, because he knew it wasn't just one meal. He'd seen her do the same at lunch when they ended up in the same lunch after the change in semesters and he was pretty sure she was setting some sort of record at the Nasty Burger.

She'd watch gory horror movies without screaming in his ear, ride the scary rides at the carnival, play video games, and the only time she ever spent more than ten minutes with him in a clothing store was when she was selecting a proper dress for Jazz's graduation. Then it had only been twenty and three of those was waiting for an open changing room. She never mocked him when she found the teddy bear collection, only asked where she could get one. And when she found out about the soap operas, she sat down with him, crying with him when Davie broke up with Selene when it was discovered she had accidentally cheated on him with his evil twin.

Though he had noticed one worrying thing. Whenever the plot involved discord between a father and child and it was going badly, she always left the room. He eventually noticed that, despite the wide smile on her face and bowl of popcorn in her hands, her eyes were red from crying.

He never figured out why until she had coming knocking on his door in the middle of the rainstorm saying she couldn't go home. When he asked why, she said her dad was visiting. He could never get anymore out of her, but he eventually concluded that it perhaps had to do with WHY she was living with the Fentons.

She also had that same bright smile that time when she said to forget about it and to watch a movie on TV. The bright smile like when she had popcorn, but it wouldn't quite reach her eyes.

But everyone had something. He was smart enough to know that. And she was obviously hellbent on avoiding the man, so it wasn't really something much to worry about.

She didn't even go into jealous fits!

"That's a seven."

"Oh yeah, definitely a seven, but that one over there is a nine."

"A nine? Really?"

"It's natural, bro. You can tell in how they move. Get that naturally totally makes it a nine."

"The natural ones are usually less crazy."

"Exactly," Dash said, scanning the crowd as the nine disappeared into the store. "That one's another seven."

"Really?"

Dash and Kwan both went rigid at the new voice. Dash because of the ensuing chewing out he expected to get, Kwan in preparation to run from the fight.

"I'd give her at least an eight. Shapely, thin, but with clothes that tight you can tell she doesn't starve herself. Girls are prettier when they don't," she said, stealing some of Dash's fries.

"…you're not mad?" Dash asked.

She gave him that same owlish look she often gave him when he asked something that should have been obvious that she didn't seem to get. "Why should I?"

"Because I called another girl pretty!"

She shrugged. "So? She is."

"But…you…buwah?"

"You're not jealous?" Kwan finally asked.

"Why should I be? I'm the one Dash is dating."

And that had been the end of it. No scheming plots to make him pay, no sudden demand for attention, not even mentioning the incident when they had their first actual fight.

It had been when Dash was off between Football and Basketball when he realized that perhaps there was a REASON she hadn't demanded constant attention. Namely the fact she'd vanish abruptly and without warning.

When Dash tried to find out why, she'd be evasive. It was around then he noticed it. For the most part, she'd been honest to a fault. What she thought, what she felt, her own naivety, she never seemed to hide things until he had spent enough time with her TO notice.

She never talked about her past. Her problem with her father. Why she didn't know things, even if she was blunt about not knowing. Like anything before she walked into Casper High didn't exist.

And that included whatever she was doing. He realized whatever it was, was probably what kept her busy before and after school.

Eventually, he had snapped.

"Stop treating me like I'm stupid! I can tell you're hiding something!"

She had looked at him with such shock. At first, he thought it was because she thought he didn't notice. "I don't think you're stupid."

That had shocked him. But his rage had won out. "Well, you're treating me like you do!"

He kicked himself later because then the fight came. It had been loud and harsh, and she was denying everything and he kept accusing her until she finally snapped if he wasn't going to drop it, she'd just leave.

He had followed her, but she'd been gone as soon as he reached the door.

It was later she approached him, perched on his window sill he'd left open for the summer air and asked to talk.

And her characteristic bluntness returned. She said she couldn't tell him what she did because she didn't have the most to lose. Said it was something important, to her and to people who were important to her.

Being used to hearing tales of couples cheating on each other, Dash had at first assumed the worst of her, but she had said people. And her eyes had a different look he'd never really seen before. It wasn't the pain that her father brought. It wasn't the anger of when she got in an argument. It wasn't her joyful look, her owlish confusion, her annoyance at jerks, her scolding look when she caught him bullying, or even her fierce determination when she was studying.

It was a look he'd only really seen once, on Danny Fenton as he led the charge to save their parents from that little kid ghost. It was…

Dash never knew what to call it exactly. Words weren't exactly his forte, but the closest he ever got was 'purpose.' Whatever this thing was, it was important to her.

So he backed off and didn't ask. It was one of two things she ever really asked of him. To not ask and to stop bullying. Though bad habits were hard to break, of course, and she'd give him an earful, though he was surprised she'd let him still argue with and insult Fenton so long as it didn't come to physical blows. Though he had felt less inclined to bully anyway, one of the reasons had been to impress girls. Yet sometimes he found not being a bully far easier than not asking because sometimes she would come back just looking so tired he'd start to worry.

It wasn't he thought he was one of those emo types who was doing something that might get her killed. One thing, she hung around Fenton and his friends too much and dweeb he might be, Fenton wasn't going to let his family hang out to dry. And Valerie was certainly smart enough to notice if something was really wrong.

Besides that, there was that part of her that Dash was pretty sure kept him coming to her in the beginning. There was just something about her. Relatively speaking, she was pretty normal. Maybe not for the popular girls, but as a normal kid. Certainly like a normal boy, save for that naivety and the few less than manly things they shared. No, that thing was just she so clearly…

Loved life. It took many a sleepless nights to figure out what it was that drew him to her, but it was that. She never took anything for granted. She came to new experiences with wide eyed wonder and she always thought of old ones fondly. She didn't begrudge going out and doing things, but she didn't hate those times she could just relax and enjoy the peace. It was like to her, nothing was better than just being alive. She didn't get jealous of what she didn't have and never tore anyone down, instead celebrating their fortune with them. She forgave and forget so easily. Other than her father, he'd never seen her hold an actual grudge, yet somehow not becoming a doormat in the process.

Dash would sometimes wonder if she had been around two years ago when Spectra was around if she could have dragged her into that deep depression the rest of them had been in. He found himself doubting she could have.

While not perfect, Dash was pretty sure she was as perfect as any girlfriend was going to get.

So he knew why he felt like a lead weight had been dropped on his chest when she texted him those famous words 'we need to talk.'

He met her out on a cliff near the observatory. A little outlook for those events like meteor showers or eclipses where the observatory deck would be too small. Sometimes it was good for picnics, but after a few months of dating, he'd found out it was one of her favorite spots to be. Especially at night.

Why would she break up with him at her favorite spot? Did she want to so badly that she didn't even feel like it'd taint her memories of the place?

And just as usual, she was perched on the safety fence, not afraid that she might fall off the edge. He found himself wondering how she got there. It wasn't winter yet, but the nights were definitely getting cold, but there she sat in jeans and a blue tanktop, her hair even tied back by a red bandanna. There wasn't a car or anything, so she had to have just walked there, right?

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he croaked out, feeling like this mouth was full of cotton and his throat tight. He couldn't even get the question out about if she was cold or not. Not that it mattered. Other than that, he didn't know what else to say.

She was silent as he approached, leaning against the rail, waiting for her to start. And all he could think of was 'why, why, why?!'

"Danny and I had a talk. A rather…lengthy talk," Dani finally said.

And in an instant, the why's snapped together and became a boiling point of rage. FENTON.

"And he's the one who convinced you to dump me?!" Dash snarled.

Dani jumped, her hands grabbing the rail to steady herself even as she jerked to the side, away from Dash, looking at him in surprise. "What?!"

"Dump me! And after I've been so nice to him!"

"Hey, you still insult him!"

"Not pounding him is being nice! But then he goes and convinces you to end it!"

"I'm not dumping you!"

Dash stopped raving at that. "What?"

She just looked at him in confusion. "I'm not dumping you. Why would you think that?"

"But…your text…"

And there was that owlish look. "My text?"

"You said we need to talk."

"Why does that…oh," she said, finally getting it before smacking her forehead. "I should know that by now. It's used enough in Our Lives of Teen Wolves."

"Then…you didn't mean…"

"Of course not!"

"So Fenton didn't…"

"No," Dani said, shaking her head. "In fact, _he_ was the one to endorse you to me when I thought maybe we should end it after we'd been dating for only a month."

"What?" Fenton endorsed him? Yeah, he knew he was awesome, but he also knew Fenton hated him. Just like he hated Fenton.

Dani nodded. "I was worried. I mean, I knew you were a bully. I said yes at first because I wanted to go to the dance and after that, I thought it'd be a nice experience. If you had some sort of plan to humiliate me, I would have just gotten you back and that'd be the end of it. But then I was starting to really like you and I got worried," she said, looking up at the night sky, a saddened look on her face. "I didn't want to find out I had just been strung along when I was starting to care. Danny found me when I was debating it and he was always really good at telling what I was thinking."

She looked at Dash sheepishly. "He was pretty annoyed too, but he said that, bully you might be, there was a good guy in you. He said he didn't think you'd be cruel enough to lead me on for a month."

"Really?"

"Well, after that, he did say even if he thought you wouldn't be, he knew you weren't near patient or smart enough to pull on the act in front of me that long," she said with a shrug and an innocent look.

"…you sure I can't give him a wedgie?" Dash grumbled.

"Considering his scathing comments the first time he heard about it, I'd say that was 'him being nice.'" She said with a teasing smirk.

Dash grumbled again.

"But he said he's seen you do the right thing, the good thing, enough times to know that you weren't likely to be even trying something like that to someone you didn't even really know. And that if I was actually starting to care for you when at first I hated you, then-"

"Wait, you hated me?"

Dani paused and looked sheepish again. "When I was twelve. It was when I first met Danny. I followed him to school and I didn't…exactly think you were all that at the time. We didn't actually meet at all."

"You hated me from just seeing me?!"

"Well, I wouldn't say hate, exactly. I was kind of in a bad place at the time and pranking a bully sounded really awesome at the time. But then there was a ghost attack, so I couldn't even do anything anyway," she said with a wave of her hand. "But the point is, he said if I went from that to caring about you in that short amount of time, then you were being genuine."

Dash stared at her, a bit…well, surprised. "I didn't know Fenton had that much faith in me."

"Danny has faith in a lot of people," Dani said, smiling fondly. "Even those he hates, even those he should be wary of, he'll always give them a chance if they need it."

"He's that kind of guy, huh?"

Dani nodded. "He is. He's amazing."

It was…weird to hear. Dani didn't usually praise her cousin in front of him. Mostly because it kind of annoyed him and after the first time, only really talked about Danny when it was about scheduling, a funny family story, or when she was telling him to lay off.

But this wasn't the gushing when he first asked about her family, this was…this was different.

If they weren't related, he'd almost think she was in love with him, with the look on her face. (And he really hoped she wasn't because that was creepy.)

"Then…if you aren't dumping me, why are we here?" Dash asked.

Dani blinked, looking like she had completely forgotten. "…because we do need to talk. Just not about breaking up," she said and the light and fondness fell from her face as she looked away, staring out at the city below them.

"My father came to visit. No warning. I hadn't been able to avoid him."

"…why does he keep visiting? Aren't you living with Fenton because he's bad news?" Dash asked. Why would the Fentons let him VISIT? Her feelings wasn't the usual teen with annoying parents or even minorly bad parents. She didn't HOLD grudges, anyone that got so much distaste for her had to be bad news.

"Because Danny's parents don't know about him and me."

"Oh." Well, that would explain it.

….wait. "You're his cousin! Why wouldn't they know about their own niece's situation? And why wouldn't he say anything? And why are you staying with them if they don't know?!"

She didn't respond at first, biting her lip and thinking. "I'll get to that part. Okay?"

After some hesitation, Dash finally nodded. She barely talked about her father. If she was, there had to be a reason, right?

"It had been the first conversation I've had with him since I came to Amity Park. Not that it means he had to play catch up. He knew enough about my life to know what I was doing. He knew me too well, able to hit and poke all my weak points. And I was thinking about leaving."

Dash felt his blood run cold. "No."

"Hm?"

"You can't leave! Not because of that guy!" Dash said, grabbing her hand. "Tell Fenton's parents! Hell, come live with me if you have to! But you can't just leave like that!"

Dani stared for a moment and she smiled, closing her eyes and squeezing his hand. "I won't leave," she said. "I thought about it, but I won't give up my life here."

"Besides, Danny talked me out of it. He knew what state I'd be after talking to dad," she added.

Dash was starting to wonder if it was good he was feeling this much gratitude for Fenton.

"And I talked to him about other things as well. And I decided on something," Dani said, opening her eyes and looking at Dash with a look very much akin to what she had minutes before when she was talking about Fenton. "About where I go."

It took a minute for Dash to register what Dani had said, still stuck at that look. After seeing it, he found himself wondering where he thought she'd actually break up with him? This girl who obviously enjoyed being with him and trusted him to be safe when she had to run away.

"Where you go?"

Dani nodded. "And…a lot of things I've been hiding," she said, letting go of his hand and turning around on the rail, so her feet were on solid ground. "I used to adore my dad," she said, standing up and stretching her back, hiding her face from Dash, but she was using THAT tone.

…when had it gotten to the point he could tell by tone?

The happy, fake tone she had to go with those smiles that didn't reach her eyes. "I absolutely adored him. I did everything he said without question. I ate my vegetables, I was quiet when he needed to work, stayed quietly in my room when company was over." All of which was normal enough for parents to ask, nothing wrong with that. "I learned to lie with a smile on my face, I never questioned his plans, and I hurt people all because he asked me too"

And that's when Dash's brain screeched to a halt. "What?"

"It's actually why Danny's parents don't know. We didn't want them to know who my father was. My idea. I told Danny that if we kept it secret, then it was a weapon for when we really needed it against my father. Because he didn't want Maddie to know the truth."

Dash's mind was trying to catch up, as she looked over her shoulder with that bright smile. "When I first met Danny, I was lying to him. I was a tool of my father's, told to trick him into trusting me so I could stab him in the back."

Dash felt like he was suddenly falling down a well and had no way to catch himself. Everything she was saying was leaving him reeling, so he latched onto the first clear thought he had. "What…but…you were TWELVE."

"Yes," Dani said and the fake smile fell, the sad look on her face. "I was so young…" She looked away. "Danny knew better. He knew I was being used and he told me so. Even if I didn't believe him at first, he tried and tried until I understood."

Some part of Dash, that wasn't completely and utterly floored, noted that was probably why she felt such fondness for Fenton. He'd probably be pretty fond of someone who saved him from someone who made spies out of twelve year old GIRLS.

"But...why…why would he even want FENTON?"

Dani walked a few more steps away, her shoulders slumped. "Well…" And then her back straightened, her shoulders raised. "Because of what he does. Because of what we do now. You see…the reason Maddie and Jack don't know who my father is because…I'm not their niece. I'm not their niece, aunt, cousin, sister, or daughter. But I am related to them."

"You're not a dude, are you?" Dash thought it was remarkable he could say anything coherent at all by that point.

Dani laughed at that. "No. That was part of the problem my dad had with me. You see, I'm a clone. An imperfect clone of Danny."

It was at that point Dash's mind threw its hands up in the air and quit. "Wah."

Dani turned, smiling, but looking worried. "Of course, just because I'm a clone, doesn't mean I am Danny. I assure you, we are different people."

"Why would anyone clone Fenton…?" Dash said, voice no one near as strong as he'd like.

"The million dollar question," Dani said. "And that is the entire heart of the matter. Why would anyone clone normal Danny Fenton? Even with dad's obsession with his mom, wouldn't a child be an obstacle? Like Jazz simply has always been. More than that, why does Danny vanish like he does? Why can't he maintain his grades, why is he gone half the time, why is he no longer actually feeling threatened by bullies?"

Not threatened. Dash had wondered about that. For a while, even before Dani, Fenton hadn't looked genuinely scared of him in so long. Why was that?

"Simply put, Danny Fenton isn't simply normal Danny Fenton."

And it was then the white rings appeared around her waist, traveling across her body, changing her right before Dash's eyes into the Ghost Girl.

Dani Phantom, the girl…relative of the local superhero Danny Phantom. No one knew how she was related, sister, cousin, niece, hell maybe even daughter. She just showed up and started helping out with the ghost threat, quickly becoming a hero just as much as the original.

And now she stood in front of Dash, where moments before she'd simply been Dani Fenton.

It was at that point Dash's eyes rolled back and he blacked out.

When he awoke, it was to white hair and glowing green eyes looking at him in concern.

"Dani Phantom…?"

She nodded. "Do you remember before you passed out?"

He was silent for a minute, thinking and then it all came back. For the moment, he didn't answer to try and sort all that out. It sounded like the plot of comic book.

"Dash…?" Dani asked worriedly.

"So…Fenton is Danny Phantom?"

Dani nodded.

"And you're his…sidekick?"

"I prefer teammate. We got a few people helping out."

"His friends?"

"Them included."

Dash was silent for another minute. "This isn't a dream…is it?"

"No, sorry."

"You know…I thought you were amazing," Dash said and didn't notice the wince at the were, but he continued. "I just didn't think it was this much."

"You're…not mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Dash asked and sat up. He'd been hit in the head enough to recover pretty well. "You're amazing! You save people, you've saved almost everyone in the school. And after a father like that!"

Dani was blushing at the compliment. "Well-I just..."

"Why didn't you just say sooner? I'd have understood."

"Because…because Danny didn't trust you," Dani said.

That got Dash to pause.

"I…I don't have as much to lose as Danny. I'm a clone, I'm younger than the amount of time Danny's had ghost powers. I don't have an entire life. Before I came to Amity Park, I didn't have a home, I didn't have friends, the only family I had was Danny who I could barely see. If…if things had gone wrong, I could make due, like always, but Danny would have…" She looked down at the ground. "I almost got Danny killed. More than once because of my own naivety and stupidity. I wasn't going to risk his life because of my feelings."

For a time, the only sound was the wind and the distant cars in the city. Dash studied the girl before him and he probably finally, truly got her.

No past before the time Phantom was alive. The only real raising she had was from psychopath who used her as a tool. All alone for most of her life, short as it was. Not to mention whatever finding out what her father was did to her when she had clearly thought the world of him.

If she was at all with family like Fenton was…his heart ached for her at the thought. All of that and yet she still had such spirit. Maybe that was why she did. Why she loved life so.

"And now?"

"You tried to save him from Skulker last week," Dani said.

Dash remembered the incident. That crazy ghost that threatened to put his empty head on a wall a few years ago came gun blazing into English class. Everyone had run out, but Dash had noticed the insane hunter had cornered Danny.

Now that he thought about it knowing the truth, Fenton was probably waiting for him to leave so he could change. But he hadn't, instead throwing a desk at Skulker's head and proceeding to taunt and insult him. Effectively pissing off the ghost enough to follow him out of the class room and down the hall.

Danny Phantom had come to save him before he got blasted to bits.

Fenton had later asked him why he did that. Of course he said just because he hated Fenton didn't mean he was going to let him die. When Fenton wasn't satisfied with that, he also added how Dani would be upset if he died.

"He said if it was me, you'd probably keep it secret. He knew you wouldn't mean us harm, but keeping it secret was another thing entirely," Dani said and looked up with hopeful eyes. "So…will you?"

Dash thought about how his popularity would skyrocket if he told the truth. He knew who the Ghost Boy was! He was dating the Ghost Girl! His popularity would be set, even if it meant Fenton would be popular too. He'd be famous, he'd get to be on TV and do interviews, and forever have bragging rights.

But then he met her eyes and he knew the score. "I will," he said, taking her hands in his. "Boyfriends are supposed to keep their girlfriend's secrets."

And Dani gave him possibly the brightest smile he'd ever seen on her face and she moved forward, kissing him deeply and passionately, which he returned in kind.

Dash Baxter would boast to be a great many things, but never smart. Still, he would say despite not being the brightest guy around, asking out and falling in love with Danielle Fenton had perhaps been the smartest thing he'd ever done.

* * *

RP911: Since I edited out some typos and such. In my own little timeline, Dani would be some weeks short of a year by the time D-Stabilized happened. Since Vlad seemed to be mayor for a while, Dani was made before school let out and Vlad was mayor after it started again before that. So a lengthy amount of time. It's after D-Stabilized that I break off from canon because, really, there's no real build up for Phantom Planet except maybe in the vaguest sense. We didn't even know about Ectoranium being a thing. Even Danny's reveal is just built up via the normal 'secret identities are hard' for all superheroes. As for the end of the Danny and Sam pairing...well, that didn't exactly need the meteor for that. So, I've just removed Phantom Planet and continued with the timeline D-stabilized set up. Valerie knows things and I might go into that because that entire set up is VERY interesting, especially as she could make the Fenton-Phantom connection. Dani would have been on her own for about another year and in that time, she found a way to fake her papers, probably via the ghost of some criminals. I hadn't decided on an exact story for why Dani was taken in by the Fentons, as it changes between stories, but this time, they didn't know about the powers.

At fourteen, Dani was living with them and that's when she started High School. I think she was probably reading a lot while on her own and in fear of her own death, looked for a way to stabilize herself. Thus the Biology grade. Dash and Danny would be Juniors. About a year passed in the fic itself.

I may do their reactions if I feel inspired. I do have a few other stories I want to write. Like I still want to write a companion piece to Choice (a Dani and Vlad centric fic) where Dani first learns about Vlad being back. And I'm also working on finally finishing Splitting the Damage Soul which IS a fic that focuses on the mental nature of halfas, Dani' own messed up psyche because trauma, and her relation with both Vlad and Danny. Because between the three, the relationship is extremely complex and I love it so. So perhaps I'll do some stuff with them reacting to things in here if I feel inspired, but they'll probably be a lot shorter.

And I adore DashxDani. I saw a cool picture once and then I read the fic Carnival which I do recommend. I'll ship Dani with a lot of people, but DashxDani is one of my top three ships for her. It saddens me there's not more out there of them.


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